Daniel Eckford Stearns (October 17, 1861 – June 28, 1944), commonly known as "Ecky" Stearns, was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

from -. He played for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

, Kansas City Cowboys,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA). At the start of the 1882 season, clubs playing in the American Association had their players wear non-matching silk uniforms, with a different color and/or pattern corresponding to each position in the field.Nemec, David. "The Official Rules of Baseball Illustrated", Globe Pequot, 2006, p. 11. Accordingly, on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

for the Red Stockings, Stearns wore an unusual candy-striped jersey. On September 11, 1882, Stearns was involved in a notable milestone, when pitcher Tony Mullane of the

Louisville Eclipse The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

pitched the first no-hit game in the history of the American Association against Stearns and his teammates on the Cincinnati Red Stockings, a 2–0 win by Louisville.Nemec, David. "The great encyclopedia of nineteenth century major league baseball", University of Alabama Press, 2006, p. 222. Stearns made the game's final out by bouncing into a

fielder's choice In baseball, fielder's choice (abbreviated FC) refers to a variety of plays involving an offensive player reaching a base due to the defense's attempt to put out another baserunner, or the defensive team's indifference to his advance. Fielder's choi ...

that forced runner Pop Snyder at second base. The Red Stockings had the last laugh, however, ending the year as the AA's inaugural champions.Nemec, David, and Marc Rucker. "The Beer and Whisky League: The Illustrated History of the American Association--Baseball's Renegade Major League", Globe Pequot, 2004, p. 37. Unsatisfied with their first-base play in 1882, the Red Stockings signed Long John Reilly of the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

to replace Stearns prior to the 1883 season. Stearns spent the 1887 season with the

Topeka Golden Giants Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Unit ...

of the Western League, leading that league in hits. That team finished with a dominant record of 90–25, and is sometimes described as the strongest minor league baseball club of the 19th century.Nemec, "The great encyclopedia of nineteenth century major league baseball", p. 485. Stearns is also notable as one of the first

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

to play Major League Baseball.Levine, Peter. "Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience", Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 103. His status as such made him popular with Jewish youths who were fans of the game.Cohen, Irwin J. "Jewish Detroit", Arcadia Publishing, 2002, p. 26.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Dan Major League Baseball first basemen Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Kansas City Cowboys players Detroit Wolverines players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Buffalo, New York Binghamton Crickets (1880s) players Macon (minor league baseball) players Topeka (minor league baseball) players Des Moines Hawkeyes players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons players Scranton Coal Heavers players 1861 births 1944 deaths Flandreau Indians players